Dusty sensor symptoms?

[bychan]

I've just returned from holiday in Crete, and have now downloaded all my RAW images. These have all been converted to jpeg for preliminary convenience, using AWB and auto tone settings in Lightroom.

On closer inspection some images contain little dots, especially evident in clear blue skies; other images taken at roughly the same time and earlier in the holiday don't, whilst some others also do!

I have only ever changed the lens once since the camera was purchased in April, and this was in May to fit the current lens. The camera is always stored in a bag, always with the lens cap fitted. The lens is protected by a clear filter.

I have never come across this 'problem' previously, and have attached sample images.

The first two images, as far as I can see, are clean, whilst the last two aren't.

Any input as always greatly appreciated.

Camera K100D Super & Tamron 18-250.

[PFH]

Most likely it is dust.
Dust on the sensor are most visible when you use a small aperture. That can be the reason you don't see it in all images.

[magnum1]

Originally Posted by PFH

Most likely it is dust.
Dust on the sensor are most visible when you use a small aperture. That can be the reason you don't see it in all images.

I had the exact same symptom about a week ago. Aperture surely has a major effect.

I stopped at the gas station and blew my camera out at the air pump.


















Just kidding.

[Igilligan]

OH, Magnum! your "just kidding" is way to low in that response... someone who had never had sensor dust might just try it!!!! Way to dangerous of a joke....

I do have a question for others with the 18-250mm lens about the first shot of the airplane. I thought the 18-250 handled PF better. That airplane looks like it could have been shot with my tamron 70-300.

Originally Posted by magnum1

I had the exact same symptom about a week ago. Aperture surely has a major effect.

I stopped at the gas station and blew my camera out at the air pump.


















Just kidding.

Do a search on sensor dust... lots of ways to address it.

[LeoTaylor]

Dust is a common problem and there are many opinions on how to remove it from the camera sensor.

Since you often can't retake the photos after cleaning you will need to develop skills on removing spots with software. Fortunately most dust spots show up in the sky where it is easy to fix with a clone tool. Today I had several photos that were far worse than yours (5-7 larger spots). I used Paint Shop Pro-11 to remove the dust spots.

In astrophotography one usually takes flat frames which are divided into the light frames to remove spots much more effectively then a brute force clone tool. Flats remove spots for the the whole frame at once, including the difficult areas where a clone tool won't work. I wonder why flats are not popular with daytime photos. Too much trouble?

Leo Taylor